My parents got me Vegan Planet for Christmas when I was 17, even though I technically wasn't allowed to go vegan until I moved out. (I had been vegetarian for four years and was obviously heading to veganism). I went officially vegan a week later. I bought How It All Vegan and The Garden of Vegan at some indie bookstore in Seattle when I was in town for a high school journalism convention and was very thrilled to bring them back to Idaho. Everything got better when VwaW finally came out, though.

_________________"No one with hair so soft and glossy could ever be bad at anything." - Tofulish

My first was Easy Vegan Cooking by Leah Leneman. Ms Leneman and I clearly have differing opinions on using spices (she likes half a pinch where I put in a tablespoon), but it has a lot of simple, unfussy, if unexciting recipes. Also, a brilliant tofu recipe. The book is worth buying for the jambalaya, which tastes nothing like jambalaya but is delicious.

_________________Moon - "This is the best recipe in the history of recipes forever."

Actually, now that i think about it, the thing that moved me from Vegetarian to Vegan was a book actually, but not a cookbook. It was Skinny bisque.

I know a lot of people dont like it, but it sure spoke to me! A friend got it for me, and I read the whole thing on a flight from Atlanta GA to CA. Decided to do the whole vegan for 30 days thing and there was no looking back. I actually like the bad language and the pushy nature of the book, probably because i am kind of a bisque myself.

but i sure dont like the recipes in those books at all. VWAV was the first 'cookbook'.

"How It All Vegan" was my first. Got it a couple of years before I went vegan, never have used it very much.

And another endorsement for "Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone". No, it is not vegan and yes it has lots of dairy in it, but the majority of the recipes are very adaptable. But the best part of it is all the veggie how to info. It's made me WAY more adventurous at the farmers' market; it's a fantastic reference. It's rather expensive, though. I looked for (and found) a reasonably priced, in-decent-condition one on eBay (after checking it out of the library and renewing it until they'd no longer let me).

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Desdemona wrote:

" I mean, WHAT IF MY CAR BREAKS DOWN AT NIGHT AND I DON'T HAVE A REFLECTIVE ENOUGH VAGINA?"

My grandma got me Linda McCartney's Meals from Around the World (or similar title) as my first vegetarian cookbook. I bought Veganomicon while working at Borders as my first full vegan cookbook. I made the sloppy lentil jo recipe first.

Mine was a tiny little orange book from the early 90s called "Burgers, Fries, and Cinnamon Buns". Does anyone else remember that one? My first vegan pancakes came from that book. It wasn't that great, but it helped me greatly as I became vegan and realized I could still eat food that was recognizable to my raised-on-meat-and-potatoes high school self. Before that, the first Moosewood book was what first got me thinking about alternatives to what I grew up eating. I loved the hand drawn recipes and that full page eggplant picture. Moosewood was huge at that time.

_________________"I love you, but you need to get out of the kitchen before I spatula your face." -Pinko"You can always trade sex for cookies. It might make you feel dirty, but just keep your eyes closed and think of vanilla." -Tofulish

VWAV! I checked it out from my high school's library because I needed more vegetarian recipes than what I had printed out from the internet. I must have renewed that book three times before begging my mom to buy it for me.

_________________"Maybe you guys should stop shopping at the lard store." = Fee"Part of the joy of watching this show is watching people who have no idea how to use knives. It's like watching hockey." = mollyjade

Mine was either Soy not Oi! or The Vegetarian Handbook by Gary Null, which is more of a reference witha recipe section. I still flip through Soy not Oi! when I'm feeling nostalgic, but I never seem to have any Nature's Burger on hand so I don't get much real use out of it anymore.

VWAV! I checked it out from my high school's library because I needed more vegetarian recipes than what I had printed out from the internet. I must have renewed that book three times before begging my mom to buy it for me.

Mine was How is All Vegan and then I got Vegan Planet which my at the time time omni boyfriend bought for me. Later I found tons of McDonald's wrappers in his car. He is currently missing out on the most delicious Fronch Toast and Blueberry Banana Bread. Suck-er!